Saltimbanco is an intense, colorful celebration of diversity, joy and creativity. In an imaginary city, a crowd of colorful, nomadic characters gather to take you on a senses-defying acrobatic journey. Between the hustle and bustle of the street and the poetic heights of skyscrapers, the thrilling world of Saltimbanco awaits you.

Anu Saxena, Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman,announced Wednesday the Chamberâ€™s opposition to the USPS consolidation plans for the Lakeland Processing and Distribution Center. The Chamber, in a written letter to the Consumer Affairs Manager of the Suncoast District of the USPS, asked that the following points be taken into consideration:

Lakeland is located strategically between Tampa and Orlando on the I-4 corridor, a geographic super-region that is ranked seventh largest in the country and fifteenth in the world. Lakelandâ€™s strategic location, with 8.5 million people living within a 100-mile radius of the city, should be considered an asset to the USPS as more individuals are projected to move into the region placing a greater burden on mail services.

What is the cost and service efficiency of collecting the 338 zip code mail in Lakeland and trucking it to Tampa? Once processed at the Tampa P&DC Center, this same mail will have to be trucked BACK to Lakeland and to further points in the 338 service area. This practice adds to increased truck traffic on an already stressed interstate system and results in consumption of excess fuel.

Lakelandâ€™s P&DC has been recognized frequently as the top processing plant in the country. Why wouldnâ€™t that level of service be utilized to its maximum capacity rather than forcing the Tampa facility to increase their overtime labor to handle the additional mail service?

The USPS also claims that local postmarks will continue to be available. This is true, but only if one physically takes his mail to a Post Office. The majority of our Chamber members are small business owners who do not have ample time in their day to drive mail to a post office, thus their mail will no longer bear the Lakeland postmark resulting in a loss of identity.

Every business in this country is enduring the same challenges the USPS faces: to identify cost-saving measures to keep their doors open without jeopardizing their most valuable asset, the customers they serve. While we commend the efforts of the USPS to improve operational efficiency and make more efficient use of Postal Service assets, we urge the USPS to consider the negative consequences of moving Lakelandâ€™s First Class mail operations to Tampa.

Not too long ago, Lorrie Delk Walker and I spoke to the Chamber members about the importance of using social media tools to establish and build customer communication. I mentioned using Twitter. For those who missed the breakfast Twitter is a communication service that enables users to broadcast short 140-character messages to many followers, or directly to a trusted friend. You can view the communication at a particular URL, or add an application to your phone so you can communicate with select Tweeters.
Using Twitter is like “live blogging on steroids.” People use the service to ask questions, set up group meetings, find a restaurant in a unfamiliar city, ask fellow customers about your business, or simply carry on discussions.

I’ve been using Twitter from close to the beginning, but last year started using it heavily conjunction with my news site. Lakeland Local uses Twitter to broadcast short nuggets of information to all those who choose to follow. The title and link to each new post is immediately sent to all who follow on the channel: @lakelandlocal . That channel also broadcasts the titles and URLs for all The Arts in Lakeland posts.
(You did know about our companion Lakeland Arts site, didn’t you?

Breaking news, short important notes, and interesting trivia is broadcast @lakelandflorida. We use that channel to also display such information on our home page.

I have a personal Twitter account @chuckwelch, but I use it mainly to schmooze. It’s a good service because 140 characters is about my writing limit. (I wrote this post in 140 character bursts.)

I’m writing to invite all Chamber members to a meeting of people who use social media on a daily basis, and those interested in how to make it work for their company. Bloggers and Tweeters aren’t the only groups invited to the meeting. You’re still invited if you use, or wish to learn more about,any of the big social media services like Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, or Craigslist. To help reach interested readers, Lakeland Local has published to most of those sites.

If you blog, tweet, post on Facebook, use the Internet to communicate, or want to learn more — you’re invited Thursday, January 15th at 6pm for a meeting of like minds.